Studio XPS 8100 constant freezing and crashing

I have the same spec as you but with 8GB of RAM and mine is crashing a lot during intensive games. The warning signs are the fan speed increases all of a sudden and the games just freeze completely and need to be stopped in the Task Manager.

This is really disappointing for me as everything else about the machine is great.

it may be expensive but try replacing the RAM

things like this happened to me with my dimension untill I got new RAM

or try reinstalling windows

if you have bad RAM you will get CRC errors all the time when you install

To be honest I don't want to swap any hardware out as I have only had the computer for a month or so.

Does anyone know the best email address for dell support? If they can't help me I will just send it back.

Hi all I recently received the Dell Studio XPS 8100 on the 24th February and since then I have had constant system crashes and freezes. It can happen at anytime. Even when I am doing simple tasks like just browsing the internet or listening to media player.

We just took delivery of an XPS 8100 and assembled it today. We are having the same problem with spontaneous reboots and freezes. Ours will not run for more than 7 - 10 minutes before it either reboots itself or locks up. It took us 4 tries to complete the initial Windows setup because it kept rebooting during the process. By the fifth try we had the initial setup process nailed and we beat the next reboot. But then it continued to reboot itself and lock up every 7 - 10 minutes or so. Like yours, when ours locks up we either have to hold down the power button until it shuts down or we have to pull the plug from the UPS. Our call to Dell tech support was a waste of time. The connection was so bad that we couldn't hear nor understand them and they couldn't hear us. After 20 - 30 minutes of screaming and yelling into the phone we finally gave up. This thing is going back to Dell.

By the way, ours was configured quite differently from yours - Intel core i5-650, 8GB DDR3 RAM, ATI HD5450 1GB, 1TB hard drive.

Let us know what happens when you get your new motherboard.

Hi All

After the engineer came he looked at the BIOS and said it was only saying there was 3GB memory but in windows it was saying 6GB.

He replaced the RAM chips but the same problem was there and still the system froze.

He finally decided to replace the mother board. The BIOS now states the correct amount of RAM and so far the system has not frozen since. Must have been a fault with a RAM socket.

So far my PC is working very well. The guy I was speaking to at Dell tech support was very helpfull and organised everything quickly for me with an engineer coming out the very next day. Although I did have the same problem with hearing what he was saying through the phone.

Thanks for the reply.

Hello,

This week I received my XPS 8100 configured just as yours.  I started setting it up, copying our files to it, etc. and it started freezing and rebooting every 10 minutes or so.  I contacted Dell and within a relatively short time on the phone, they said they would send another complete system.  I am now waiting for it.  The first tech told me it would only be a few days, however, when I called to follow up today I was told 3-4 weeks.  I expressed my frustration and the gentleman said he would try to expedite it.

How is your system working?  I am wondering if I'm going to have the same issues with the replacement that's on it's way.  We've had 2 Dells that have lasted over 5 years and I'm hoping that this one isn't a lemon.

Thanks!

Hi

Since my PC got repaired it has been working just fine. No crashes or freezing issues like I had before. Seems like it was a faulty motherboard and a new one fixed it.

It is a very nice PC which I use for 3D CAD, gaming and general office use. Hoping that it will last me quite a long time too.

Hi... Just happened to see your problem and I had a similar one with my XPS 8100... same setup as yours except 8 GB DDR3 RAM.   Went through a couple hours of tech calls until they finally agreed they had to send a technician to replace system board and power supply.

When Tech got here he found the cooling fan on the processor was not firmly attached in the four sockets that held it on the system board and in contact with the
the top of the processor.   The processor was overheating and had a thermal sensing device built in and was thus shutting the computer down.

He said that he thought simply snapping the fan into place would solve the problem, but I asked him to go ahead and replace the system board and power supply as well as that is what he came ready to do.  Anyway the problem has been fixed, no issues since and this was back on March 15th.

So check to make sure the fan is firmly attached to the processor....mine was only separated by a fraction of an inch and the only indication was that the fan was a little loud from what I had been used to... The fan must be in contact with the processor and there is a layer of thermal paste in between the two to promote heat
exchange as well.

Make sure you are grounded when working inside the computer.... so you won't cause any static discharge damage to the components.

Hope this helps.

Mediaman57

Thanks for the post - this week I received the replacement XPS 8100 and all seems well so far.  Perhaps Dell was fully aware of the issues because they were very accommodating in sending a new one out to me with very few questions from Tech support.  I am pleased with how easy it has been to exchange as well as how fast the machine is.  

Just found the thread... thanks for being here.

Mine arrived on Friday and I plugged it in today for the first time and started playing with it sporadically for a few minutes at a time. The key here is "at a time." Everytime I would come back to the computer it would mysteriously be powered completely off. On re-boot, the message, Windows did not shut down properly...... Blah Blah, Blah. HMMMMM! I guess I will be calling tech support tomorrow.

Sorry to hear about all of the trouble you have had! I have had some issues but not nearly as bad as yours. I had to have a new processor fan/heatsink, new TV card and keyboard but nothing major. (so far)

My BSOD's and crashes stopped after I got rid of every trace of all things McAffee. The new fan/heatsink cooled things off somewhat. For quite a while the system has been running great!

I hope the new one works well for you.

Jeff

I purchased a Dell XPS8100 in April.  I have the I7 860 and 8 gigs of ram.  One day I turned on the machine, it booted up to windows.  I was not able to do use any program.  I could use the mouse and keyboard, open programs, but nothing would run.  So, I rebooted my machine.  It took forever to shut down the machine, and to boot up.  I was asked to do a diagnostic test, which took 12 hours and didn't finish.  During the test, it showed a bad HD and DVD player.  Dell send a new HD, DVD and MB.  It was installed.  The HD was imaged, but once installed, it was corrupted.  We had to install windows from scratch.  Nothing seemed to have gone right.  After many phone calls, Dell sent me a new computer.

After waiting weeks for the new computer, I installed my programs and files.  Then, booting up one morning, something familiar happened.  I could not use any program.  I restarted, and the same thing happend.  Stalled at the Dell Logo, and took forever to boot up.  The tech at Dell had me reset the bios which helped, but did not resolve the problem.  I then was told to restore to factory settings and reinstall my files and programs.  It was working fine, and then again, it happened.  My new computer I have had less than 2 weeks.  The tech got onto my computer and did somethings, and told me that he will call me back on Monday, to see where we go.

It seems that when Windows Updates searches for the new update, this issue happens.  I believe that there is something wrong with this configuration of the XPS 8100.  This is the 4th Dell I have purchased, and I never had a computer with so many issues.  I am fearful to work with it.  I am so happy that I found others are having the same issues.  I really don't want a replacement for this machine, but a different model.

I know things can go wrong, but I am sure Dell knows that there is a big issue with this configuration.  I am interested to see where this will lead on Monday.

I am sorry to hear about all the troubles as well.  We haven't had any crashing since Dell shipped us the replacement computer.  I will add that the first thing I did was remove all McAffee and install the FREE Windows Security Essentials.  I have heard that the windows software is very good and I like the idea of no subscription.